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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 16, 2018 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 7-c <br /> SUBJECT: Hurricane Florence Operations Review and Debriefing <br /> DEPARTMENT: County Manager's Office & <br /> Emergency Services <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1 — Timeline of Storm Impacts and Travis Myren, 919-245-2308 <br /> Operations Dinah Jeffries, 919-245-6123 <br /> PURPOSE: To discuss the County's preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation <br /> strategies during and following Hurricane Florence. <br /> BACKGROUND: The response to Hurricane Florence involved a multijurisdictional and <br /> interdepartmental effort to ensure the safety of residents in Orange County. Although Orange <br /> County avoided widespread, devastating impacts, the storm had significant localized impacts <br /> and tested the County's emergency response and recovery operations. Attachment 1 details <br /> the timeline of the storm and the County's response to it. <br /> Preparedness <br /> Starting on September 7, Emergency Services began closely monitoring what would become <br /> Hurricane Florence. During this time, Emergency Services communicated with key response <br /> partners and provided situational reporting. On September 9, Emergency Services activated the <br /> Severe Weather Annex of the County's Emergency Operations Plan. The Emergency <br /> Operations Center was partially activated on September 10, and the Chair of the Board of <br /> Commissioners signed a State of Emergency Declaration. <br /> On September 11, 2018, the County held a department directors meeting to discuss the <br /> potential timing, intensity, and impacts of Hurricane Florence. Department directors reviewed <br /> internal communications, facility vulnerability and capacity, potential alternative work sites, fuel <br /> availability, and cost accounting practices. Department directors also discussed a public <br /> communications strategy, vulnerable areas in the community, potential mass care sheltering, <br /> and areas where residents could access cooling and electricity in the event of prolonged, <br /> widespread power disruptions. The Department of Social Services in cooperation with <br /> Emergency Services also began pre-storm shelter activation, and a public information line was <br /> activated for residents seeking information about the storm and potential sheltering needs. <br /> On September 12, approximately forty-eight hours before the storm's projected landfall, Orange <br /> County remained in the forecast of probable impacts. The Emergency Operations Center began <br />